A number of Independent Dublin councillors have called for a boycott of the Freedom of the City award to former US President Barack Obama.
Dublin City Council voted in 2017 to grant him the honour and he has decided to accept it while in Ireland for an event tomorrow.
Mr Obama will take part in what is being described as a small intimate ceremony in Dublin with Lord Mayor Ray McAdam and a number of councillors in attendance.
He will receive the award before being invited to sign the roll of honour.
The Independent Group on Dublin City Council has said it will boycott the event due to Mr Obama's "support for the terrorist regime in Israel" and his "murderous foreign policy in Libya, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere".
"The Obama administration granted Israel an unprecedented military aid package of $38 billion in 2015 despite its war crimes in Gaza and relentless settlement expansion," the statement read.
"His administration objected to Palestine joining the International Criminal Court and opposed any ICC investigation of grave crimes by Israeli officials."
The group also said the Obama administration carried out more drone strikes in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen compared to the Bush administration.
It also accused the former US president of invading Libya without congressional authorisation.
"Obama's administration greatly expanded deportation from the US, deporting over twice as many people than Bush. Although he claimed to prioritise deporting migrants who were dangerous criminals, he ended up targeting hundreds of thousands of people with old or minor convictions," the group said.
The Independent group called on the Lord Mayor to rescind his offer and asked all invitees to boycott the event.
When he invited Mr Obama last July, Mr McAdam said the Freedom of Dublin is "a rare distinction reserved for individuals whose leadership, service and values have made a profound and lasting contribution to the world".
In recent days, he said Mr Obama's presidency came at a transformative time and that his tone of political discourse and the reforms he introduced made him a fitting recipient for the Freedom of Dublin.
People Before Profit-Solidarity's Group Leader on Dublin City Council Conor Reddy has refused his invitation to attend the event and encouraged Dubliners to take part in any protests that make take place around the ceremony.
Cllr Reddy said he believes Mr Obama is "not a symbol of peace or freedom but of US imperialism and war" and he said that "it is disgrace that Dublin's Mansion House is being used to whitewash the legacy of a war criminal".
He added: "To roll out the red carpet for him in Dublin, at a time when Palestinians are being slaughtered with US weapons, is shameful."
Mr Obama is on Dublin ahead of an event in the 3Arena tomorrow where he will be in conversation with the Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole.
The sold-out event, with an audience of 7,500, follows a similar event in London last night.
A total of 88 people have previously been conferred with the Freedom of Dublin, the most recent being environmentalists Duncan Stewart and Greta Thunberg in June 2023.
Others include Nelson Mandela, John F Kennedy, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bernard Shaw, U2, Brian O'Driscoll and Dr Tony Holohan.
In 2017, Bob Geldof returned his award in protest at the inclusion of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the roll of honour. Her name was also removed in 2017.
Privileges that come with the Freedom of Dublin
While no financial benefits are attached to the award, holders of the Honourary Freedom of Dublin have some ancient privileges and duties not applicable to ordinary citizens.
Ancient Privileges include:
The right to bring goods into Dublin through the city gates, without paying customs duties.
The right to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries, including modern-day College Green (formerly Hoggen Green) and St Stephen's Green.
The right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.
Ancient Duties include:
Each Freeman or Freewoman must be ready to defend the city from attack.
A Freeman or Freewoman can be called on to join a city militia at short notice.
According to a law passed in 1454, any merchant who becomes a Freeman or Freewoman must possess the following items:
A coat of mail
A bow
A light helmet
A sword of their own.
Freemen from the other trade guilds must have a bow, arrows and a sword.
A law passed in 1465 states that each Freeman or Freewoman has to provide themselves with a longbow (of their length) made of yew, witch-hazel or ash.
They must also have 12 arrows made of the same wood.
